Annual Conference 2025 Recap – Soldier Hollow, UT
The 2025 CCSAA Annual Conference was hosted by Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.
The 3 day Conference began with snowmaking and grooming workshops and socials followed by presentations, breakouts and a vendor expo.
The Annual Conference is an incredible opportunity for owners, operators, and suppliers from across North America to connect, learn, and share knowledge.
Attendees benefit from engaging educational sessions, live grooming demonstrations, and vibrant social events. Networking remains a cornerstone of CCSAA conferences, and this year’s event was no exception—offering exceptional value.
Snowmaking and Grooming Workshops
The snowmaking workshop kicked off with a discussion of the Soldier Hollow snowmaking system. Ben Siefert from HKD and Bill Pierce from Soldier Hollow shared some of the history of the existing snowmaking system from the 2002 Olympics and design changes for the upcoming 2034 Olympics.
A group of almost 80 attendees toured the snowmaking pumphouse, the compressor infrastructure and the existing snowmaking pond as well as discussing gun variations and placements.
Bill also reminded everyone that a system such as Soldier Hollow’s is not always needed. Many ski areas have started their snowmaking journey by leasing a single fan gun and learning the process before making a larger commitment. Contact your snowmaking rep or visit the snowmaking contact page here!
The grooming workshop again began with Bill discussing the important aspects of grooming. Key points included not only tiller settings, but blade use, time of grooming, and how to communicate to your customers.
The group then went to the snow where one each of the machines present showed their blading skills while attendees broke into smaller discussion groups.
Topics included key subjects that every groomer deals with including blading, snow pushing, track setting, grooming intersections, and much more. There were several key takeaways from the discussion, but possibly the most important was knowing your machine and understanding that grooming is not a set and forget proposition. A good operator is making machine adjustments all the time to deal with the different conditions.
Happy Hour at Heber Valley Brewing
Following a great day of workshops, the thirsty attendees were treated to local beers at Heber Valley Brewing sponsored by PistenBully and Ski Cat Snowcat Rentals. Mexican dinner on your own followed
Tuesday, April 1
Day 2 of the conference began with skiing and groomer demos at Soldier Hollow. Two highlights of the morning include the Biathlon Demo sponsored by the City of Aspen and skiing with PSIA Demo Team Member Justin Arndt and past member Scotty McGee.
The afternoon consisted of presentations, discussions, silent auction and vendor expo.
Session #1 – Snow Farming Roundtable – The snow farming roundtable began with each panelist sharing some of their current techniques. Discussed were the usual techniques of trucking, plowing, bucket loading, rubber track cats, fencing, shoveling and more. New techniques included Snow Secure snow storage, Mr. Snow artificial surface, snowblowers designed to fit on your existing cat and snow buckets also designed to fit on a cat.
Special thanks to our panelists: Bill Pierce – Soldier Hollow, Sally Jones – Tahoe Donner, Richard Hodges – White Pine, and Shawn Otterson – Snow Mountain Ranch.
Session #2 – The Soldier Hollow Story – Luke Bodensteiner, Soldier Hollow’s General Manager, spoke about the history of Soldier Hollow, how it was created and the successes of the first Olympics. Luke continued with their current operational plan keying in on what makes Soldier Hollow a successful venture today.
Preparations for the 2034 Olympics were of special interest as climate change is a big concern with maintaining a quality snow surface during the games. They are very interested in snow storage and plan to have as many as three pits within the next few years.
Session #3 – The Storm Shift: How Extreme Weather is Reshaping Recreation and Industry – Weather patterns are no longer predictable, and the “norms” we once relied on are fading fast. Craig Gordon from Utah Avalanche Center gave a very lively presentation on the changes he is seeing in the mountains with snowpack.
Short Topics – New this year was the short topic section where the group briefly touched on some important topics that were not scheduled for a full session.
Lighting – Mike Hussey from Oak Hill, NH, previously from Rikert Outdoor Center, VT, shared the two lighting installations he has been involved in and welcomed attendees to visit with him for more details.
Leasing vs Owning – The concept of leasing or financing large purchases is becoming more mainstream now. Pete Ashton from Ski Cat snowcat rentals and Sage Kehrer of JB&B Capital shared thoughts from their perspective and invited attendees to visit them in the expo.
Course and Trail Markings – Proper race course and trail markings is an ever present discussion topic. Although CCSAA has been advised to not suggest standards, many ski areas have protocols they use. Scott MacDonald from Inter-Mtn invited operators to visit him in the Expo to share ideas.
Happy Hour and Ritual Chocolate
Following a great day of fun, learning and networking, Happy Hour ensued with a huge beer selection provided by Prinoth and sweet chocolate pairings with local supplier Ritual Chocolate.
Dinner was highlighted by a rousing Live Auction of advertising pages from Best Nordic Ski Great Escapes. Thank you to DEMACLENKO and Mountain States Snowcats for their winning bids.
Wednesday, April 2
Day 3 of the conference began with skiing and groomer demos at Soldier Hollow. The PSIA Team had a lively group of participants that were having great fun while learning current teaching technique.
Session #4 – Current and future challenges to running a Nordic center and what to do about them – Matt Sabasteanski from Pineland Farms moderated a discussion on the many issues facing the cross country ski industry. Of particular note was the following quote from the National Golf Foundation: “The inconvenient truth is that our industry has devoted considerable resources to perfecting the technical experience while often under-investing in the human one.”
A quick SWOT analysis was carried out and an energetic discussion followed, noting the opportunities presented to the industry.
Session #5 – Retail Trends and How Your Shop Can Positively Impact Your Customer – The panel discussion began with each guest sharing current trends and obstacles they see in the current retail environment. Specifically noted was the approximate percentage of revenue the retail sector made up, suggested to be between 20% – 50%.
Also discussed was how to up your retail game with simple purchases like gloves, hats and wax.
Panel: Ian Harvey – TOKO, Sally Jones – Tahoe Donner, Richard Hodges – White Pine Touring, Robert Lazzaroni – Salomon, Geoff Hurwitch – SWIX
ASSession #6 – Diversify Your Offerings to Stay Relevant in a Changing Landscape – Following a successful session at the Fall Conference, the audience broke up into smaller groups to brainstorm. With weather issues and a changing customer base, the groups discussed innovative ideas to keep your ski area vibrant and fresh to attract your local community and those traveling from afar.
With weather issues and a changing customer base, the groups discussed innovative ideas to keep your ski area vibrant and fresh to attract your local community and those traveling from afar.
Ideas included full moon snowshoe tours, women’s events, progressive dinners, bar entertainment – make it a fun place to hang out, and more. Additional ideas included becoming a wedding venue in the off season, adding tubing, mountain biking and expanding four season trail use.
Short Topics – The short topics for the day included the following:
Optimizing Ski School as a Revenue Stream and Profit Center – PSIA’s Scotty McGee and Justin Arndt shared some ideas on growing your ski school and the resources that PSIA offers ski schools. There is lots there to take advantage of and Scotty and Justin are available to assist as needed.
US Forest Service – Richard shared thoughts on the current state of the US Forest Service’s current low staffing issues. Suggested was to get your permit renewals in early and be proactive on following up with complete documentation. Several ski areas mentioned that they had just gone through the process and for them, the dealings were efficient.
Ski Patrol, Do You Have a Plan – There had been discussion during dinners about ski patrol and Aaron from Bear Valley Outdoor Center noticed that his injury occurrences were significantly up this season. Reese shared that CCSAA cannot provide guidelines, but that every ski area should have an operational template to follow when an accident occurs. Simple things like who is in charge, a phone tree, meeting with your first responders, does everyone know where the sled is and how to attach it to the snowmobile, etc.
The Silent Auction closed, and happy hour and dinner followed a great day of Conference activities.
Thank you to all that attended and contributed to the community.
Thank you to our Supplier Expo Attendees!!
- PistenBully
- Prinoth
- HKD Snowmakers
- Ski Cat Snowcat Rentals
- Mountain States Snowcats – Snow Rabbit
- CHS Snowmaking
- DEMACLENKO
- TOKO
- Inter-Mtn
- Best Nordic Ski Great Escapes
Other supporters here include
- Yellowstone Track Systems
- Nordic Group International
- First Tracks Fabrication
